Beryl Patmore
'Beryl Patmore ' (b.1859) is the cook at Downton Abbey and she believes that she runs the house, although Charles Carson and Elsie Hughes beg to differ. She is forever ordering about Daisy Mason, her kitchen maid. Biography Early life Beryl mentions having two sisters. One who died prior 1912 and another sister, Kate Philpotts, being her nephew Archie's mother. Series One Mrs. Patmore runs her kitchen under tight control. Daisy is always trying to prove herself and wants to be allowed to have greater responsibility, but Mrs. Patmore doesn't think that she is ready. She tries to hide her deteriorating eye sight by having Daisy read her a new recipe and blaming any mistakes on Daisy, but her secret is exposed when she accidentally puts salt on the pudding instead of sugar. Robert Crawley decides to send her to a London eye specialist at Moorfields Eye Hospital for surgery to fix her cataracts. Isobel Crawley's cook, Mrs. Bird, is brought in as a temporary replacement, but Mrs. Patmore fears the family will prefer Mrs. Bird and decided to her keep her. She asks Daisy to sabotage Mrs. Bird's meals to prevent this from happening. This scheme is revealed when Daisy puts soap in the soup she thought was for the family. Fortunately this was soup for the servants and not for those upstairs. When Mrs. Patmore returns, she and Mrs. Bird find themselves in agreement, as cooks, in their common desire to be in charge of their kitchen's stock without having to answer to a housekeeper. Series Two During the war Beryl finds out that her nephew, Archibald "Archie" Philpotts, has gone missing at the front. Wanting to know more, she appeals to Lord Grantham and discovers that her nephew was shot for cowardice. Ashamed, she does not tell anyone, except in an attempt to comfort Henry Lang, who suffers from shell shock. Without knowing that this is a secret, he announces it to the other servants. Ashamed, Beryl runs off crying. Thomas Barrow tries to become a black market goods supplier, and Mrs. Patmore agrees to buy from him if a cake made by Daisy using his samples show good quality. Unfortunately for Thomas, the goods are either fake or adulterated and Mrs. Patmore will not be buying from him. Series Three Daisy wants to be promoted from kitchen maid to assistant cook and Mrs. Patmore promises her support in requesting a new kitchen maid. Alfred has been hired as the new footman and Daisy angrily confronts Mrs. Patmore with the fact that they were promised a new kitchen maid. Mrs. Patmore explains to Daisy that Lord Grantham has refused any new staff, and she doesn't know how Mr. Carson was able to manage a footman. She tells Daisy that she must be content with her title promotion and raise. Thomas advises Daisy to go on strike, but Mrs. Patmore ignores her and carries on until Daisy gives up.Episode 3.01 Mrs. Hughes finds a lump in her breast. Mrs. Patmore confirms that it is a lump and, the next day, accompanies her to her to the Downton Cottage hospital to see Dr. Richard Clarkson. Mrs. Patmore is concerned that the test to draw fluid from it will hurt. She tries to comfort Mrs. Hughes in her fears that it may be cancer. There is an important dinner party and Mr. Carson is demanding of Mrs. Hughes. Mrs. Patmore almost blurts out the she is not well. Later, Mrs. Hughes forbids her to tell Mr. Carson about her possible illness. The range is smoking badly and the chimney is not drawing. Mrs. Patmore thinks at first that the wind may be blowing in the wrong direction and that it needs to be raked, but when it finally goes out completely it is obvious that the chimney flue is blocked and Mrs. Patmore sends word up that nothing is cooked for dinner. Subsequently the larder must be stripped for an impromptu indoor picnic, but Mrs. Patmore tells Mrs. Hughes that she has held back a veal and egg pie for the servants' dinner. Episode 3.02 When Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes discuss their anxiousness at the time the medical test is taking, Mr. Carson overhears them. Later, Mr. Carson gets Mrs. Patmore alone and admits that he has spoken to Dr. Clarkson. He gets her to tell him that Mrs. Hughes may have cancer by tricking her into thinking that Dr. Clarkson had already told him everything. Alfred tries to ask Daisy to eat in the main servant dining room, but Carson says that Daisy and the other kitchen maids eat in the kitchen with Mrs. Patmore. Mr. Carson's concern has made it obvious that he knows, and Mrs. Hughes confronts Mrs. Patmore who lies and says that he must have picked it up somewhere. Mrs. Patmore again accompanies her back to the doctor for the test results, and, as per Mrs. Hughes instructions, subsequently lets Mr. Carson know that it is not cancer. Episode 3.03 When Daisy tells her Mr. Mason wants her to come live at his farm because he wants to name her his heir, she compliments her on the generous offer and is happy for Daisy, but also sad that she might leave. After repeated delays a new kitchen maid, Ivy Stuart, joins the staff. Alfred and new footman James continually loiter in the kitchen talking to Ivy and Daisy. Mrs. Patmore is always shooing them out of the kitchen when things need to be done. When Alfred sets eyes on Ivy, sparking Daisy's jealousy, Mrs. Patmore advises her not to treat Ivy so harshly as she has done. She tells Daisy that being mean to Ivy will not make Alfred like her more. Furthermore, when it becomes clear Ivy has a fancy to Jimmy he doesn't return, Mrs. Patmore says to all four of them that their problem is they are all in love with the wrong people. When Ethel asks her for help in preparing a meal for the ladies of Downton, Mrs. Patmore agrees to help Ethel, in defiance of Mr. Carson's orders that no one from downstairs see her or go to Crawley House. Cora says Mrs. Patmore has "a good heart and does not judge" after Robert storms in to the luncheon, after Mr. Carson tells him about Ethel preparing the meal. 2012 Christmas Special Jos Tufton, a new Downton supplier, begins courting Mrs. Patmore and asks to "squire" her around the Thirsk fair. He asks her to marry him, but Mrs. Hughes has observed his womanizing ways and informs Mrs. Patmore. She is actually relieved, because she had not wanted to marry him. They believe that it was her cooking skills that he was really after. Series 4 Mrs. Patmore is suspicous of the new modern cooking equipment Daisy starts using, but clearly still cares for her. When Valentine's Day comes along, she sends her an anonymous card. Daisy at first thinks Alfred sent it, but after the truth comes out, Daisy is grateful she has a friend in Mrs Patmore even if she has no admirer. When Alfred considers leaving Downton to pursue his dreams of becoming a chef, Mrs. Patmore tells Daisy it is probably good that he goes, because she has been in a one-sided love for too long. Mrs. Patmore, in Thomas Barrow's words, is not a futurist, as she frequently resists new technologies downstairs: when Daisy starts using an electric mixer, Baxter a sewing machine, and when Lady Grantham decides to have a refrigerator installed in the kitchen. Series 5 Mrs Patmore supports Daisy in her quest to become better and hires Sarah Bunting, a local mathematics teacher at Downton School who is also Tom Branson's friend, to tutor Daisy in her studies. Personality She can be pretty strict when it comes to work, but has shown a caring and forgiving side at times. Relationships Daisy Mason The relationship between Daisy and Mrs. Patmore is good; despite Mrs. Patmore often snapping at Daisy and becoming frustrated with her, she does care for Daisy and vice versa. Together the two women can cook anything and are a formidable pair. An example of the care Mrs. Patmore shows for Daisy is the support she offered in allowing Daisy to become her assistant cook and her support in Daisy's relationship - and later marriage - with William Mason and the father/daughter relationship with his father, Mr. Mason after William's death. She also sends Daisy an anonymous Valentine's Day card to spare her feelings in case she did not receive one from someone else. Daisy is protective of Mrs. Patmore as well, such as when she tried to sabotage Mrs. Bird's dinner when Mrs. Patmore was in London for her eye operation. Also Mrs Patmore, in a sense of mortherly love, hired Sarah Bunting to support Daisy in her studies. Quotes "No! Listen to me! And take those kidneys up to the servery before I knock you down and serve your brains as fritters,'- to Daisy. "I sent you for a drink of water, not a trip up the Nile." -to Daisy "Oh!…Judas was only trying to help, I suppose, when he brought the Roman soldiers to the Garden."-to Daisy "You know the trouble with you lot? You are in love with the wrong people." -to Daisy, Alfred, Ivy and Jimmy "Sometimes you can spend too long on a one-sided love." - to Daisy. Appearances Notes * a It is unsure if there ever was a Mr. Patmore as "Mrs." is used as a courtesy for housekeepers and cooks regardless of whether they were or currently are married. However, Mistresses and marriage: or, a short history of the Mrs (PDF) (or http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/occupations/abstracts/paper25.pdf) by Amy Louise Erickson states that "In the middle of the eighteenth century, 'Mrs' did not describe a married woman: it described a woman who governed subjects (i.e., employees or servants or apprentices) or a woman who was skilled or who taught," leaving Mrs. Patmore's marital status unknownhttp://twitter.com/lesley_nicol/status/150248682846035969. *In the companion book, "The World of Downton Abbey" by Jessica Fellowes, Mrs. Patmore's kitchen is described as being hot year round. And a cook's day starts at 6 am, as she begins cooking the first meal. Between upstairs and downstairs, she must work 18 hours and make eight meals a day from scratch. Speculation * She may have been born somewhere between 1869 or 1870.In the 2013 Christmas Special, Mrs. Patmore mentions that no-one "has wanted to squire me since the Diamond Jubilee". Queen Victoria's diamond Jubilee was on the 20th June 1887 and Mrs Patmore had to have had her season (though she would not get a debutante ball due to being a commoner) by that time. A woman typically has her season when she is 17 or 18. Going by the ages of a woman having her season and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, Mrs Patmore would have been born in 1869 or 1870. References External links Patmore, Beryl Patmore, Beryl Category:Patmore family members